Door operator



Oct. 17, 1933. E LEHMAN 1,930,685

DOOR OPERATOR Filed March 1952 Patented Oct. 17, 1933 UNITED STAT BOOB()PERATOR Edward H. Lehman, Chicago, 111., assignor to W. Miner, End,Chicago, Iii, a corporation of Delaware Application March 3, 1932.Serial No. 596,512-

' 9 (Claims. (c1. 2e2-2is) This invention relates to improvements indoor operator'sespecially designed for use in connec tion withrefrigerator cars.

One object of the invention is to provide a 5., rotary operating meansfor forcing the doors or refrigerator cars either open or tightlyclosed, including end members and a rotary operating bar, wherein thecost of manuiacture application of the operating means is greatly ren.duced by so designing the parts thereof that the same may be operativelyconnected with each other and held so assembled solely by bearingmembers employed to rotatably support the same on the door, thusdispensing wi'h securii means or fastening members ordinarily nployec.,0 con-- nect the end members to the rotary bar, and further dispensingwith the usual operations required in permanently fastening the partstogether. 1 2 0 A more specific object of the invention to provide anoperating means comprising a rotary bar and separate end membersactuated by the bar, wherein the end membershave keeper engaging crankmeans thereon engageable with fixed keepers, and wherein the usual meansfor fastening the end members to the bar is entirely dispensed with, theparts being held assembled by bearing supports which are fixed to thedoor, each bearing support being provided with 3;), an elongatedcylindrical bearing opening accommodating the corresponding end of thebar and the bearing sections forming" one of the end members, whereinthe bearing sections have heads or flanges cooperating with the bearingsupports to prevent endwise disengagement oi the bearing sections fromthe supports, the operating bar being disposed between bearing sectionsor" theend member for holding the same sprea dapart to bring the headsor flanges there- 4(1). of in overhanging shouldered engagement withline 33 of Figure l, certain parts being shown 5 in' elevation. AndFigures 4 and 5 are horizontal sectional views, correspondingrespectivelyto the. lines 4 4 and 55 of Figure 2.

In said drawing, l0 designates the side wall, of the car, provided withthe usual door opening 11, which is closed by a pair of hinged doors 12.60,

and 13. The hinged doors are of the usual design having beveled edgeswhich cooperate with correspondingly beveled edges oi'the door frame.The meeting edges oi the two doors are also] beveled and all of thecooperating engaging faces v of the doors and door frame are providedwith the usual insulating material. The door 12 isv the first closed,the beveled edges being soar? ranged that the inner edge of the door 13ov n. laps the inner edge of the door 12. As shown,- 7 each door issupported by a pair of hinges 14li; oi the usual type employed inoonnectionwith double doors of refrigerator cars. The door 12; isprovided with a protecting wear plate 15fat-the lower inner cornerthereof, as clearly shown in Figure 1, over which a pivoted latchmember. 16 is adapted to engage to hold the door closed. The usual topand bottom keepers 17 and. 18 are employed in connection with improvedoperating means, the same being provided with cam slots within which theoffset endmembers of the operating bar are adapted to engage. As shownin Figure 1, the lower keeper is extended. to the left and has thepivoted latch 16 mounted on the outer end thereof. a

My improved operating means comprises broad,- ly a vertically disposed,substantially flatbarh, having pairs oi sectional bearing members: B-Band B-B at opposite ends thereof forming the keeper engaging meansoftheactuating. mechanism; a pair of top and bottom bearing brackets CCsecured to the door; and an operating; lever D. j

The bar A is of substantially rectangulartrans verse cross sectionthroughout itslengthandhas the top and bottom ends thereof reduced inwidth, as indicated at l9--19, so as to be accommodated within thecorresponding bearing brackets C C- and provide transverse shoulders2020 for a purpose hereinafter pointed out. The bearing brackets CC,which are secured respectively to the top and bottom portions of thedoor 13;"ar of similar design, each comprisinga substantiallycylindrical sleevelike bearing section 21 and; aplatelike section 22formed integral therewith; Each bracket is fixed to the door by bolts2323 or other suitable securing elements extending through the platelikesectionsthereor" and throughthe body of the door. 11

The sectional bearing members B-B atopposite, ends of the bar are ofsimilar design an most clearly shown in Figures 3, 4, and,5-,'aieeisposedat opposite sides of the corresponding end portion 19 ofthe bar and within the cooperating bearingbracket 0; Each bearingsection B has a flat inner fa ce; which bears directly on thecorresponding side of the bar A, and a curved, substaiitiallycylindrical outer face at cooperating with the interior bearing face ofthe bearing sleeve of the bracket C. Each section B has an enlarged head25 at the inner end thereof of the general outline shown in Figure 4. Atthe bottom end, one of the sections B is provided with a headlike member26, while the other is provided with a laterally offset crank portion2"! having a keeper engaging element 28 at the outer end thereof. Asmost clearly shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, the heads 25-25 at theupper ends of the two sections B-B of the lower bearing member normallyengage the upper end of the bearing sleeve of the lower bracket C,thereby supporting the bearing sections B-B against downwarddisplacement. As will be evident, the shoulders 20-28 at the lower endof the operating bar A also rest on the upper end of the sleeve 19 ofthe'lower bearing bracket C, there by holding the bar against downwardmovement. The heads 25-25 at the inner ends of the bearing sections BBof the upper end member of the operating means also prevent upwarddisplacement of these bearing sections by overlapping the bearing sleeveof the upper bearing bracket C. The shoulders 20-20 at the correspondingend of the bar A cooperate with the sleeve of the upper bearing bracketC in a similar manner,

Qthereby limiting the upward movement of the bar.

The heads 25-25 of the sections BB of each end member of the operatingmeans are of such a size that they will pass freely through thecorresponding sleeve of the bearing bracket when displaced laterallyinwardly to the proper extent. As will be evident, the sections 13-3 ofthe end members may be inserted through the corresponding sleeves beforethe bar A is in position. The opposite ends of the bar A serve as filleror spreading means b tween the sections B-B of each end member to holdthe sections spread apart, as shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5, and maintainthe shoulders thereof in overhanging relation to the sleeves of thebearing members C-C. Inasmuch as the outer end of one of the sections Bof each pair is provided with a laterally oifset crank arm and the othersection B of said pair is provided with the head 26, accidental upwarddisplacement and disengagement from the corresponding bearing sleeve 10fthe sections 3-3 are prevented.

In assembling the parts of my improved operating mechanism, the twosections 3-? of each end member are inserted through the bearing sleeve19 of the corresponding bracket C by pass- .ing the heads 25-25 throughthe opening of the sleeve. The sections B-B assembled with each bearingbracket C are then spread apart so as to occupy substantially theposition shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5. The corresponding ends of thejoperating bar are then inserted between the sections BB and B-B of thetwo pairs, thereby bringing the heads of the sections into overhangingrelation with the sleeve of each bearing bracket. After the lever D hasbeen secured to the bar A, the assembled parts are applied to the door,as shown in Figure 1, being secured to the same by the bolts 23-23 orother fastening means extending through the plates 22-22 of the bracketsC-C.

In the operation of my improved door actuating means, assuming that thedoors are closed as shown in Figure 1, the operating lever D is swungoutwardly and away from the door 12 from the position shown in Figure 1and toward the door 13. Rotation of the bar thus actuates the endmembers 28-28, which have camming action in the slots of the keepers 1'7and 18; thereby forcing the door open. As most clearly shown in Figure5, each engaging section 28 of the crank members is provided with a flatouter face 30, which normally bears on the inner wall of the cam slot ofthe corresponding keeper to prevent accidental rotation of the operatingmeans. When the door has been partly forced open as described, theoperator may readily swing the same to fully open position. After thedoor 13 has been swung open, the door 12 is unlatched and may also beopened. In closing the doors, the door 12 is first swung to fullyclosedposition and latched by the pivoted member 16. The door 13 is then swungpartly shut so as to bring the engaging end sections 28-28 of theoperating means into registration with the slots of the top and bottomkeepers. When the keeper engaging elements have been so registered, thebar A is rotated in a reverse direction to that hereinbefore describedby means of the lever D, thereby effecting rotation of the crank ends ofthe operating means and forcing the door- 13 inwardly by the cammingaction of the end sections 28-28 on the outer walls of the slots of thekeepers l7 and 18. When the door has been tightly closed, the lever armD is locked and sealed in position by the usual locking and sealingmeans, indicated by 31.

From the preceding description taken in connection with the drawing, itwill be evident that I have provided an exceedingly simple and eflicientoperating means for actuating the doors of refrigerator cars, whereinthe parts are readily assembled and mounted on the door in operativeposition wholly by the supporting brackets which are secured to thedoor, no additional securing means being necessary to fix the endsections to the operating bar. This arrangement further avoids-the laborordinarily necessary in constructing operating bars of the crank typewherein the crank end members must be brought into proper alignment soas to accurately fit within the slots of the keepers. In the presentconstruction, the alignment of the crank ends is taken care of by thetop and bottom bearing brackets C-C within which the pairs of endsections B-B and B-B are journaled.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferredmanner of carrying out my invention, but the same is merely illustrativeand I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within thescope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with aone-piece combined bearing and supporting bracket, said bracket having acylindrical bearing opening; of a pair of elongated partly cylindricalmembers within said bearing opening, one of said members having a flangeat one end and a crank arm at the other end, the other of said membershaving flanges at opposite-ends thereof; and a rotary operating shafthaving one end portion thereof engaged with the cylindrical bearingsurfaces of said members in bearing engagement with the walls of saidcylindrical opening.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a rotaryoperating bar; of a supporting bearing bracket having a substantiallycylindrical sleevelike bearing section, said bar extending into saidbearing bracket; journal means comprising elements within said sleeve ofthe bracket disposed about said bar in embracing relation, said elementshaving shoulders adapted to overlap the bracket adjacent to the openingof the sleeve thereof to hold said elements against endwisedisengagement from said bracket, said elements being held spaced apartby said bar to maintain the shoulders in said overlapped relation withrespect to the bracket; and a shoulder on said bar engaging said bracketfor holding said bar against endwise movement with respect to saidbracket.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a rotaryoperating bar; of spaced supporting bearing brackets, each brackethaving a substantially cylindrical sleevelike bearing section, said barhaving its opposite ends extending into said bearing brackets and havingshouldered engagement therewith to hold said bar against endwisemovement; and journal bearing elements within said brackets at oppo sitesides of said bar in embracing relation, one of said elements havingoffset keeper-engaging means at the outer end thereof.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a rotaryoperating bar; of a supporting bearing bracket having a substantiallycylindrical, sleevelike bearing section, said bar having a reduced endsection extending into said bearing bracket and being in shoulderedengagement with said bracket to support the bar on said bracket; andjournal bearing elements within said bracket at opposite sides of saidbar in embracing relation, one of said elements having oifsetkeeper-engaging means at the outer end thereof, each of said elementshaving shoulders overhanging the bracket to prevent removal of saidelements endwise of the bracket.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with a rotaryoperating bar having its opposite ends reduced, thereby providingshoulders inwardly of said ends; of a pair of spaced supportingbrackets, each of said brackets having a substantially cylindrical,sleevelike bearing portion, said bar having the reduced ends extendinginto said brackets and having the shoulders thereof bearing on saidbrackets; pairs of bearing elements at opposite ends of said bar, eachpair of bearing elements embracing the corresponding reduced end of thebar and being j ournaled in the sleeve of the corresponding bearingbracket; and keeper-engaging crank means on one of the members of eachpair of elements.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination with a rotaryoperating bar; of a pair of spaced supporting bearing brackets; a pairof journal bearing elements at each end of the bar embracing said endand rotatably supported in the corresponding bracket, said bearingelements of each pair having heads at the inner ends thereof, the headsat the inner ends of the bearing elements at one end of the bar havingshouldered engagement with the inner end of the corresponding bearingbracket, one of the elements of each pair having keeper-engaging crankmeans at the outer end thereof; and means for holding said bar againstendwise movement with respect to said brackets.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination with a rotaryoperating bar; of a supporting bearing bracket having a bearing openingtherethrough, said bar extending into said bearing bracket; journalbearing elements within said bracket at opposite sides of said bar inembracing relation, one of said elements having offset keeper-engagingmeans at the outer end thereof; and means on the bar engaging thebracket for supporting said bar on said bracket.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination with avertically disposed, rotary operating bar; of supporting bearingbrackets mounted at the top and bottom ends of the bar, said bracketshaving vertically aligned bearing openings receiving opposite ends ofsaid bar; pairs of bearing elements at opposite ends of said bar, eachpair of bearing elements embracing the corresponding end of the bar andbeing journaled in the bearing opening of the corresponding bear-- ingbracket; crank means on one of the members of each pair of elements; andmeans for preventing endwise displacement of said bar in said brackets.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination with asubstantially flat, elongated operating bar; of a bearing bracket havinga substantially cylindrical, sleevelike bearing section, said barextending into said bearing bracket and having shouldered engagementwith said bracket to hold said bar against movement in one direction;and journal means comprising elements within said sleeve of the bracketdisposed about said bar in embracing relation, said elements havingshoulders adapted to overlap the bracket adjacent to the opening of thesleeve thereof to hold said elements against endwise disengagement fromsaid bracket, said elements being held spaced apart by said bar tomaintain the shoulders in said overlapped relation with respect to thebracket.

EDWARD H. LEHMAN.

